Years ago, the late economist and social thinker Lloyd Best pondered over the question of how does one save a culture from itself. This is a question we have not collectively dealt with as we continue to entangle ourselves more and more in the destructive aspects of this culture that we’re partly responsible for creating. Somewhere along the line, Emancipation, understood as “freedom” – and I’ll come back to that later – was hijacked to become something that was tolerant of mediocrity, the spurning of ambition, industriousness and intellectual pursuits. Small wonder some people say “dey should bring back de white man” because we’ve made a mess of our Independence (and our Emancipation). I don’t necessarily subscribe to such a self-loathing sentiment but much of what we’re doing to ourselves and our space certainly gives credence to it.Continue reading ‘Emancipate Yourself from … Yourself’

In the days just before and after Emancipation Day I paid close attention to many of the comments and discussions on certain radio talk shows and in the newspapers and frankly I don’t know which side worries me more: those who oppose Emancipation Day or those who support it. Is kinda like de time when people responded to the charge by evangelist Benny Hinn that he saw plenty voodoo in Trinidad. Those simplistic bible-wavers who agreed with him as well as many who angrily denied what he said both had one thing in common: a profound lack of knowledge about and contempt for that ancient belief system. Likewise, many who don’t approve of Emancipation Day and things openly African displayed very clearly near complete ignorance about Africa.Continue reading ‘So, What’s Africa to YOU?’

What has been suppressed by British and European reactionaries with a vested interest in justifying slavery was that long before the slave trade Africans were well advanced in mining and metal-working, agriculture, food production, cotton weaving and garment manufacture.Continue reading ‘Africa’s hurt revisited’

Patriotic Trinbagonians, including the ESC must show their outrage and disgust against the statement made by The President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, at the Emancipation Day Celebrations when he accorded racial precedence and exclusivity to Afro-Trinbagonians in our national quest for attaining the good life (The Promised Land). This unfortunate statement was made at a function organised by the Emancipation Support Committee (ESC) that received a Government subvention of $4m and at which the Indo- T&T Prime Minister of T&T and Cabinet Ministers were in attendance.Continue reading ‘Introducing A Black Supremacy Agenda into T&T/Nigeria Relations’

For anyone black and slightly conscious, Emancipation Day should be as exciting as Independence Day. One only has to look at the spontaneous response of Africans on the first Emancipation Day to realize how united we were at the gloriously liberating moment. Listen to Governor George Hill as he reported to the Secretary of State on August 7, 1834:Continue reading ‘Raced Memories’

THE EDITOR: Raymond Ramcharitar’s 21/9/11 piece on Africentrism [How to do the Afrocentric Hustle] was a shameless display of intellectual laziness and generalising with enough vitriol to hint at something I won’t even dignify here with a mention. Which is unfortunate because it took away from a message that contained some validity. There’re quite a few scholars, politicians, artistes and activists who exploit enslavement, colonialism and Euro-centred racism to excuse self-defeatist attitudes and who manipulate racial insecurities, narrow tribalism and ideas of entitlement to retard real self-development among Afro-Trinis.Continue reading ‘Reply to Raymond Ramcharitar’s Africentrism’

Part 2 of this Emancipation Day Special focuses on the power dynamics between Trinbagonians of Indian descent versus the powerlessness of Trinbagonians of African descent. And this overt ethnic imbalance is real despite the current United Nations-sponsored year-long celebration.Continue reading ‘Power versus powerlessness in T&T’

As T&T celebrates the United Nations-sponsored “International Year for People of African Descent,” it is a sine qua non to analyze/investigate the crucial reality of being Trinbagonian versus, albeit compared to, being of African descent in this Euro-centric environment.

I overheard someone complaining on a call-in programme during Emancipation week that people of African origin in Trinidad were a different breed from those in other islands of the Caribbean.

It was not clear whether the caller meant to say that the Trinis were a worse or a better breed. I think he meant that they were an inferior breed, since, like Prof Courtenay Bartholomew (Express, August 11) he had some critical things to say about us blacks here in Trinidad. The caller was however quite correct about Trinidad blacks being different from their Caribbean counterparts. Culture and cojuncture and not genetics were however responsible for the differences.Continue reading ‘Emancipation: some creation myths’